How To Improve Your Rhythm

Why is rhythm important?

Rhythm is to music as sunshine is to plants and is made up of both sounds and silences and is what makes music flow.

Being able to play the correct notes in the right order means very little if you can’t play them to beat.

1) Practice tapping different beats

You will need to use a metronome for this exercise to make sure you keep to beat, there is one integrated within Jellynote to help! Just click on the settings icon to the right of the instruments.

We’re going to practice with the most common timing of 4 beats per bar. Go onto our sheet music for City of Stars and click play and stay by tapping ONLY on the first beat, tap a table or your leg, whatever you feel comfortable with. So it’ll be 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 (you will hear the metronome click in the background).

Next you will be tapping on every other beat, remember to count, you can count aloud if it helps. So it’ll be 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Now try tapping on every single beat ensuring that you maintain rhythm throughout!

2) Play a song at different tempos

On Jellynote you can change the tempo of a song and hence make it easier or harder to play. Just adjust the level to the right of the play button.

Try playing your favorite songs at different tempos to ensure you can keep to absolutely any rhythm!

If you’re not sure you’re keeping to rhythm click play when you’re on the song on Jellynote so you can play along with the music!

3) Practice with different instruments

Don’t just rely on your rhythm for the instrument you play, have a go on other instruments too!

Check out our ukulele tutorial with lots of different strumming patterns, you can apply these rhythms to guitar too!